Edelkrone’s popular SliderONE is a pretty elegant and well made slider. Introduced at the end of 2015, the SliderONE is perhaps a little on the short side for some. But, when you only need to move small distances, it does its job extremely well. One thing it has lacked thus far, though, is any kind of motor or motion control system.

That all changes now with Edelkrone’s announcement of the new Motion Module. As one expect, it adds a motor to your slider, so you can get automate some of your process. Motors let you get smoother, cleaner, more even slides, and a whole bunch of other potential features. That’s where Edelkrone’s app comes into play, offering a wealth of options for both timelapse and video shooters.

There are some pricy (and awesome) motorized slider solutions out there (we quite like the Syrp Genie), but they are all kinda expensive. Anything with decent controls (screen/app) is 500$ or upwards. What if you throw some creative thinking into it?

Videographer Nitsan Simantov constructed a variable speed slider motor from a TurnsPro – a $99 egg timer style panning device (kinda like the Genie Mini we reviewed, but $150 cheaper). The idea is to use the TurnsPro as a push/pull device. Connect a piece of string to the thread of the revolving head and tie that string into the slider cart (this is why this built rang a bell with the Syrp Genie).

Jibs and sliders have been here for a while and we have seen how the the industry is adjusting from big need-3-crew tools to pocket and travel tools, and I think that the next step in this evolution will be movement tools like the C-Pan arm, tools which are double duty. We had a chat with Bo Christensen the inventor of the C-pan arm.

Creating super long slider or dolly shots is something many timelapse photographers and filmmakers dream about doing. For some, hyperlapse techniques and a lot of post production work is the answer. For others, that’s far too much work. When you look at the whole process, you can quickly see why. For others, the solution is a cable cam zipline type system.

It works with the Syrp Genie (review here), to provide you with a level of control that is otherwise difficult to achieve. Until now, though, these have been DIY solutions. In fact, you can see our own DIY Syrp Genie cable cam here. Today, though, Syrp have released their official cablecam, the Slingshot.

DIY dollies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes using a variety of tricks and technology. Sometimes, though, you just have to go back to basics. That’s exactly what’s in this entertaining video from filmmaker David Sandberg. This is the second such dolly David has made since leaving his previous one in Sweden.

Using a variety of inexpensive items available at any hardware store (with the exception of the skateboard wheels), David builds a very respectable dolly. He might describe it as “a sh**ty dolly”, but I don’t think so. This type of dolly is almost exactly what I used when I first started with video around a decade ago. The PVC pipe track makes it easy to get smooth sliding moves on

This is one of those unique repurposing projects that would have never occurred to me. Having never owned a train set in my life, why would it? I didn’t even know they came in such scales that would be capable of shifting a DSLR. It did, however, occur to the folks at Granite Bay Software, creators of GBTimelapse.

In this video, we see how the “Loco Moco” system works. A laptop running GBTimelapse powers the whole thing. Signals get sent out through a USB interface to the train and camera. This controls when the train moves, and when the camera takes its shots.

If there’s one thing we can expect when Edelkrone announce a new product, it’s that it’ll be different. One only needs to look at their PocketSkater2 or StandPlus to realise that. When they first showed off the Wing back in 2014, it was simply a concept device. Now, it’s here for real.

The final version presented today isn’t quite as large as the one shown at NAB in 2014. It still has a fairly decent range of motion, though, relative to its small size. Capable of taking everything from a GoPro or cellphone to mirrorless and DSLRs, it’s a potentially handy bit of kit.

Adding camera movements to your video or timelapse footage is one of the simplest ways to add some more interest in your footage, bump up production value, and take your work to the next level. It’s why many of us buy camera sliders in the first place.

But sometimes a simple slide move isn’t enough, and we want to be able to pan the camera while it’s sliding across the rail. This is where the ShooTools AutoPan steps in. Best of all, it will work with pretty much any slider you care to put it on.

As visual creators, if and when we begin on that journey from stills to motion, one of the first things we learn is the power of a moving camera. Once confined to the likes of big production companies, camera dollies and tracks have now become an almost essential piece of kit for many filmmakers and timelapse shooters.

Rollocam have now entered into this market with The Hercules, a pocket sized, but pretty powerful motorised camera dolly system for both video and motion controlled timelapse sequences.

John Aldred is a portrait and animal photographer in Lancaster, England. you can see some of his work on his website, or find him on Facebook or Twitter.

Stefan Kohler is a conceptual photographer, specialized in mixing science, technology and photography. He is one of the founders of Kamerakind, based in Traunstein, Southern Germany. You can follow him on Facebook or on 500px.com

Liron Samuels is a wildlife and commercial photographer based in Israel.

When he isn't waking up at 4am to take photos of nature, he stays awake until 4am taking photos of the night skies or time lapses.